Method of dispensing and using rubber



1943- G. COPEMAN METHOD OF DISPENSING AND USING RUBBER Filed March 30,1937 .Latez 6772' mnfl around under- Tens/m INVENTOR. ,zlzoyd/ 6: @pemanBY v My,

M, fuxmfz ATTORNEYS Patented Janis-1943 METHOD OF Dis? ENSING AND USINGUBBER Lloyd G. Copeman, Flint, Mich, assignor to (lope-- manLaboratories Company,'Flint, Mich, a cor poration of MichiganApplication March 30,1937, Serial No. 133,794,

8 Claims. (01.154-2) This invention relates to a method of dispensingand using rubber, and has to do particularly with a method of obtainingbeneficial results from the tension, cohesion, and contractionproperties of a sheet of rubber dispensed from an. aqueous dispersion ofrubber. This application is a continuation in part of my Patent No.2,075,178, issued March 30, 1937.

In carrying 'out the method steps of the present invention, use is madeof a fiat sheet of rubber deposited from an aqueous dispersion ofrubher. In the preferred form of carrying out the invention, the flatsheet of deposited rubber is positioned between two strips of paper orthe like, the aqueous dispersion of rubber serving to bond the twosheets'of paper together, but such sheet of rubber being removable byplacing pressure upon the sheet of rubber and moving transversely; inthis way the sheet of rubber will be dispensed. because the inherenttoughness of the deposited rubber is much greater than the bondingaction between the sheets of rubber and the sheets of paper.

An important -feature of the present invention has to do with the mannerof applying and controlling the application of the thin sheet of uncuredrubber whereby to obtain a beneficial result from the tension, cohesiveand contractive properties of the rubber'as it is dispensed.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1' is a perspective view of a length of packaged uncured rubber insheet form, one end of I the dispensing unit being torn'to illustratethe manner of starting and dispensing the sheet of rubber.

Fig. 2 illustrates the step of dispensing and wrapping the sheet ofrubber around a wheel or the like.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the wrapped wheel Isahowing theoverlapping layers of uncured rub- Fig. 4 illustrates a manner ofrolling up the superimposed sheets of rubber so that they adheretogether as a cohesive, homogeneous mass.

Fig. 5 illustrates a method of splicing wires according to the presentprocess.

Fig. 6 illustrates a further method of applying and obtaining thetension, cohesive and contractive properties of the rubber as a clampingmeans.

Figs. '7 and 8 illustrate the manner of using the uncured strip ofrubber as an emergency belt, the superimposed layers of sheet rubbercohering together and contracting to place th connected parts undertension.

', such rubber may be said to be uncured. Thus As a medium in carryingout the steps of the present invention, I prefer to utilize rubberdeposited from an aqueous dispersion of rubber in a thin delicatemembrane positioned between one or more supporting and protective piecesof paper; it will be understood that the paper itself has no particularfunction in the present invention other than it serves as a convenientmedium for not only temporarily retaining the membrane butfor dispensingand releasing the same, as will be subsequently described.

One manner of forming a dispensing unit for the strip of rubber isillustrated and described in said Patent No. 2,075,178, wherein theformation of the laminated paper will be continuous.

'Another method would be to spray the surfaces of two continuouslymoving sheets of paper, the spray preferably being in the form of acombined spray of latex and coagulant as will be well understood bythose skilled in the art, so that the sheet of rubber sets up fairlyrapidly on the respective surfaces of the sheets of paper;

the sprayed sides of the two continuously moving sheets of paper maythen be joined together so that the two layers of latex cohere togetherand become one homogeneous mass. The resulting product is illustrated asat 2 in Fig. 1, where the sheet of rubber is shown as at 3 and the toplayer of paper at 4 and the bottom layer as at 5. Whether or notvulcanizing ingredients are added 1 to the'aqueous dispersion of rubberwhen the a of the dispensing unit.

laminated sheets ofpaper are first formed, the important feature, asfaras this case is concerned, is that the sheet of deposited rubber isin such form that when the sheet .is dispensed from the paper layers andwrapped upon itself the respective layers of rubber deposited from latexor other aqueous dispersion of rubber will stick to each other or, in,other words, will cohere and form a homogeneous mass. In general,

the paper not only serves to retain and properly dispense the sheet ofrubber but protects the same so that the sheets of rubber may beproperly used for manymonths after the formation The formed strips ofpaper 2 may be cut in any length or used in rolls of various lengths,

and, if necessary, can be kept in that form for years at a time. When itis desired to use some of the sheet rubber, all that is necessary to dois to tear awayone end of the strip, as shown at the right hand end ofFig. 1, and subsequent positive relative movement between the torn awayportion and the main portion of the strip will cause the sheet of rubber3 to be pulled away from between the two strips of paper. While thebonding action between the rubber and paper is suflicient to retain theshape of the strip, the tearing away action between the rubber and thesheets of paper is relatively easy.

I have discovered that if the sheet of deposited rubber is stretched andthen wrapped or formed around an article, while in this stretchedcondition, that this wrapped'form will tend to contract; for instance,if a laminated strip of paper like Fig. 1 is broken as shown, and thenwrapped around a circular object, say fifteen inches in diamount oftension before breaking apart. Furthermore, the spliced joint is veryneat and is of substantially the same diameter as the insulated coverfor the wire.

In Fig. 6 I have illustrated another manner of carrying out the steps ofthe present invention wherein a frame member I I having mitered jointsI2 is diagrammatically illustrated; it will be un derstood here that anytype of furniture or the like having joints to be glued may take theplace of the member illustrated at II. In this case the length 2 isbroken apart as shown in Fig. 1 and the ameter and the wrapped aroundportion removed from the object, the resulting annular band formed bythe layers of rubber will within a very short time contract .to anannular band of approximately two inches or less in diameter. When thesuccessive layers of rubber are wound while stretched on top of oneanother, the uncured layers of rubber will cohere with each other toform a homogeneous mass and when this mass is rolled so as to besubstantially circular in cross section this contracting action seems tobe accentuated.

Figs. 2 to 8 illustrate various methods of making use of the tension,cohesion and contraction of the sheet of uncured rubber. In Fig. 2 Ihave illustrated diagrammatically as at 6, a wheel member, such as a toywheel used for childrens vehicles. In this case one end of the strip oflaminated paper may be broken and the sheet of rubber pulled away fromthe enclosing sheets of paper and wrapped around the central portion ofthe wheel 6. The sheet of rubber being held under tension during thewrapping process. The wrapped layers of rubber are shown in Fig. 3; andif such wrapped layers are rolled into circular form as shown at I inFig. 4, such layers will cohere together and form a homogeneous mass,

with the result that a rubber tire has been formed on the wheel 6 suchhomogeneous band of rubber will contract very tightly about the wheel Iiso as to be securely held in position, and the rubber tire thus formedwill have excellent wearing properties.

It will thus be seen that the wrapped layers may not only be readilyformed into a homogeneous mass of circular cross section but suchhomogeneous mass will be under constant contraction inasmuch as thelayers of rubber will cohere togather in their stretched form and itwill be seen that this great contraction is due because of the tendencyof the homogeneous mass to assume the position it had while in itsoriginal form in the dispensing unit.

membrane of rubber wrapped around the framestretched position and thenthe cohered layers of rubber will tend to assume their originalposition,

In Fig. 5 I have illustrated another modified manner of carrying out thesteps of the present invention in connection with the splicing ofinsulated wires and the like; Inthe embodiment two wires 8 and 9 arescraped in the usual manner to remove the insulation and the endsthereof are positioned in parallel overlapping relationship. Now, if astrip of laminated paper and rubber, as shown in Fig. 1, is broken, asalso illustrated in Fig. 1, and the rubber membrane 3 stretched as it iswrapped around the overlapping wires 8 and 9, the result will be ahomogeneous mass In of rubber formed by the cohesion of the superimposedstrips of rubber to each other as the membrane is wrapped around thesplice. The homogeneous mass of rubber will tend to contract so as toform a very tight grip around the overlapping wires, with the resultthat a spliced joint is obtained which will stand a relatively great 16considerable contraction.

In Figs. 8 and 9 I have illustrated another method of carrying out theinvention wherein the membrane of uncured rubber may be used as anemergency belt. In the drawing, pulleys I4, I5

represent driven and driving pulleys respectively, suchas may be used toconnect the fan shaft with the generator shaft or vice versa." In thiscase if the regular pulley breaks one need only take two or three shortstrips or one long strip of laminated paper and rubber,'such as shown inFig; 1, and then wrap the membrane of rubber around the two pulleys, thesuperimposed layers of rubber cohere to each other to form a belt whichwill be very tight due to the contractive powers of the layers of rubberand which will function for a relatively long period of time, dependingupon the extent of disintegration of the rubber by oil and grease.

It will thus be seen that tension of the membrane of rubber while beingapplied, cohesion between the superimposed layers during and afterapplication, and the tendency of the cohered layers of rubber tocontract are important features in carrying out the present process.

What I claim is:

1. The method of dispensing and using a flat sheet of rubber depositedfrom an aqueous dispersion of rubber as a thin film upon a sheet offibrous material such as paper, which comprises tearing the paper,stretching the rubber to gradually remove the rubber from one part ofthe torn paper and wrapping the stretched rubber,

as it is gradually removed, around an article, the stretched rubberbeing in such condition that overlappin layers will cohere to oneanother when in contact, wrapping said stretched rubber in such amanner'that certain portions of the sheet of rubber will be superimposedupon other portions, said superimposed layers of rubber cohering whilein stretched form to form a homogeneous length of rubber tending tocontract.

2. The method of dispensing and using a flat sheet of rubber depositedfrom an aqueous dispersion of rubber-containing accelerators as a thinfilm upona sheet of fibrous material such as paper, which comprisestearing the paper, stretching the rubber to gradually remove the rubberfrom one part of the torn paper and wrapping the stretched rubber, as itis gradually removed, around an article, the stretched rubber being insuch condition that overlapping layers will cohere to one another whenin contact, wrapping said stretched rubber in such a manner that certainportions or the sheet of rubber are superimposed upon other portions,said superimposed layers of rubber cohering while in stretched form toform a homogeneous length of rubber tending to contract.

3. The method of dispensing and using a fiat sheet of rubber depositedfrom an aqueous dispersion of rubber as a thin film upon a sheet offibrous material such as paper, which comprises tearing the paper,stretching the rubber to gradually remove the rubber from one part ofthe torn paper and wrapping the stretched rubber, as it is graduallyremoved, around an article, the stretched rubber being in substantiallyuncured condition so that overlapping layers will cohere to one anotherwhen in contact, wrapping said stretched rubber in such a manner thatcertain portions of the sheet of rubber are superimposed upon otherportions, said superimposed layers of rubber cohering while in stretchedform to form a hczmogeneous length of rubber tending to contrac 4. Themethod of dispensing and using a flat sheet or rubber deposited from anaqueous dis- 7 persion of rubber as a thin film upon a sheet of fibrousmaterial such as paper, which comprises tearing the paper, stretchingthe rubber to gradually remove the rubber. from one part of the tornpaper and wrapping the stretched rubber, as it is gradually removed,around an article,- the stretched rubber being in such condition thatoverlapping layers will cohere to one another persion or rubbercontaining accelerators, which 1 comprises stretching the rubber andwrapping thestretched rubber around an article. the stretched rubberbeingin substantially uncured condition so that overlapping layers willcohere to one another when in contact, wrapping said stretched rubber insuch a manner that certain portions of the sheet of rubber aresuperimposed upon other portions, and rolling said superimposed layerstransversely of the edges of the superimposed layers to form an annularhomogeneous article tending to contract.

6. The method of forming an annular article of rubber tending tocontract, which comprises positioning a relatively thin layer ofsubstantial-.

1y uncured rubber between and bonding the same to two layers of paper,removing the layer of rubber from between the sheets of paper whilestretching the same to destroythe bond between the rubber and the paper,and then wrapping the sheet of rubber While being removed from the paperaround an article to obtain a plurality of layers of rubber superimposedupon one another while in stretched condition, the superimposed layersof rubebr cohering to one another while in such stretched conditionwhereby the cohered homogeneous mass will tendto contract.

thin film of substantially uncured rubber upon a strip of paper, pullingone end of the thin film of rubber away from the paper and surroundingsaid articles with a plurality of superimposed layers of' saidsubstantially uncured rubber in stretched condition. a

v8. The method of securing a plurality of articles together underpressure, which comprises depositing an aqueous dispersion of rubber asa thin film of substantially uncured rubber upon a strip of paper,pulling one end or the thin film of rubber away from the paper and usingsaid paper as a stretching medium to surround said articles with aplurality of superimposed layers of said substantially uncured rubber instretched condition, the stretched superimposed layers being formed intoa single homogeneous mass.

LLOYD G. COPE-LIAN.

